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Starting in 1964 with Seven Up, The UP Series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven Up, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives.

From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the enigmatic Neil, as they turn 56 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed.

An astonishing, unforgettable look at the structure of life in the 20th century, The UP Series is, according to critic Roger Ebert, "an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life."

Review

CRITIC'S PICK! Remarkable, poignant, fascinating. An analogous project in print or even still photographs wouldn't be as powerful, because what gives the "Up" series its punch is not so much its longevity or the human spectacle it offers, but that these are moving images of touchingly vibrant lives at certain moments in time and space. The more you watch, the more the movies transform from mirrors into memory machines, ones that inevitably summon reflections of your own life. --Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Awe-inducing. Apted has created a series of films as profound as they are straightforward: here is a chronicle of real human souls evolving in real time, a longitudinal study unique to the medium of moving images - and a documentary masterpiece. With each passing calendar leap, the experience of watching has only become more soul-stirring. Grade: A. --Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

To see '56 Up' is to be reunited with an old friend. Make that 13 old friends, together again for a documentary project the likes of which the world has never seen...a matchless portrait of our time. A singular film...such a privilege to be able to watch Apted's project as it continues to unfold. --Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Given one of the most sublime points of this series, that time is precious and fleeting, it's interesting to see that people ask why they should spend so much money on this series, rather than the more important question of why should they spend so much time.

I resisted seeing 42 UP in the theater because I knew that one day these films would be on DVD and I wanted the pure experience of watching them all. Well, here they are and I'm not disappointed.

While Apted is very skillful in using previous clips to make each work stand on it's own, it's far more valuable to see each new clip as it unspools in real-time. For one thing, Apted can't know the future when he makes each installment and so can't edit with an eye to the future (and he admits on the commentary track of 42 UP that the two times he tried, he got it completely wrong -- and in one of those cases lost a valuable participant). For another, much of the richness of each interview is necessarily lost when it's chopped down to a sentence or two in later editions. Some of the most telling and poignant moments are those when one of the subjects gives a look to the camera (or the loved one next to them) in silence. Even Apted comments that about 80% of a particular film is edited out when he makes the next one.

While it's true there is a bit of repetition if you watch all these movies back to back, the total sweep of the experience is awesome which more than makes up for it. Apted does an amazing job by not commenting at all on the subjects (except through editing), letting the individuals speak for themselves. Their statements are loaded in a way that only an outside observe can see.Read more ›

There is no doubt that this series is one of the most interesting ever committed to film. Following the lives of a dozen Brits from the age of 7 through 49, the series is both fascinating and heartbreaking. It's impossible to watch the series without engaging in a guessing game, wondering where in life each will be when the next film in the series is released. It's also impossible to watch the series and not identify with the participants, seeing yourself in each of them. Few films have had the sociological impact of the Up Series.

However, while watching each of the films back-to-back, an uncomfortable feeling began to settle in. Despite director Michael Apted's insightful approach, at times he seems to ignore the fact that a documentarian's role is to serve as an impartial participant and that his opinion has no place in the telling of the story.

Apted often conducts his interviews with those from working-class backgrounds, and are still living in working-class environs, with the assumption that they must be miserable. Presumably, this is due to his own set of experiences. Though Apted was raised in a lower-income section of London, he managed to secure a scholarship to the City of London School and then studied law and history at Cambridge University. His attitude at times appears to say, "I succeeded, so why can't you?" Several times he asks these working-class participants if they aren't capable of more than what they are currently doing, not recognizing that several of them are either quite content with their lives or simply haven't had the opportunities or means to build better lives for themselves.Read more ›

It was on a cold January day in 1988 that I first saw 28 Up on PBS in Central Indiana and later 35 Up in the theater in Seattle with 42 Up, like most people these days - on video at home. My point is that there is a personal history in this series that goes from the participants and producers to the public.

For all of its strengths and weaknesses, this is a very human documentation of English people as they grow up and mature. As I have written before, in agreement with Roger Ebert, this is one of the most important films (collective) of our time. It is a documentation of people in our times that takes us beyond the hyperbole and fabrication of media culture and gives us real people in their real settings. Also important is that it is an invited world and not one of voyerism. These peoples lives are uniquely important and the series shows how media and political presuppositions can't box people into class units, which is what was originally intended and I applaud Apted for continuing the series and allowing the series people to have their own voice. Some have dropped out for their own personal reasons.

This is one of the most important historical documents from our times.

A friend in the UK has emailed me and said that Apted is at work on the series (currently written in 2005) and that 49 Up should be ready by Christmas.

Looking forward to the next installment.

This should be in your library, if you value history and documentaries at their best.

I first became aware of this series when, at age 21, I saw "21 Up" in the theater. It was one of the most fascinating movies that I had ever seen. Until "28 Up". And, then, until "35 Up". (You get the idea here).

As each new chapter unspooled, the lessons about childhood, society, class and life in general become deeper and more profound. If this all sounds oh so very boring, it is not.

You will return to these films over and over again, and learn something new each time you view them.